Chief
by Rafxsulfuslovestory
Summary: It's Hiccup's birthday, he got a little drunk and find himself naked presiding the Great Hall without knowing how exactly...


By the many remains lying on the ground, it was fair to assume that a celebration had been held there. And judging by the food scattered on the ground and the abundance of incongruous objects accompanying it, the night must have been a drunken one. In these harsh times, when the cold was man's worst enemy and food was a scarce commodity, preserving supplies until the end of winter was a priority. So, for such a large amount to be wasted, it surely was in honour of someone special. Indeed, today was the birthday of the head of Berk, Hiccup Haddock the third, who had reached the age of 21 years.

And the opportunity had effectively given way to a little carelessness... At the beginning, the party had was going nicely. The Berkians had drank in honour of their leader, toasting everything, before singing an old Norse anthem at the top of their lungs. The banquet had subsequently gone well overall; the villagers had eaten to their hearts' content and drank more than reason, laughing very loudly at the jokes of their table neighbours, always in a friendly atmosphere. But that was until Ruffnut and Tuffnut started a giant food fight in the Great Hall. This was followed by challenges between clans, relaunching hostilities between the Hofferson and Jorgenson families. The rest, Hiccup didn't recall it very well. He vaguely remembered a kind of improvised tournament between the clans he had tried to contain in vain. Gobber had advised him to relax and have a drink instead, which he did. He had even taken several, but he didn't know exactly how many.

And there he stood, standing with his back straight in front of that elevated table from where he presided over the empty Great Hall, completely naked.

He was not sure how he got there. He had a long speech to give the next day and he seemed to remember a trick he had been told so that he would no longer be afraid to speak to others. You had to imagine yourself naked in front of the assembly... or was it the other way around? He didn't recall well.

It was at this very moment that Astrid arrived, entering the room in panic. She seemed to be looking for something or rather someone...

"Hiccup!" she yelled, out of breath.

He then lifted his head up, his eyes half-opened. He looked down at the blond-haired girl's vision, and successfully acknowledged that it was Astrid.

"Aaah... hi Astriiid... Astrid, hiii!" he managed to articulate.

"Hiccup! What the hell were you thinking?! You're completely naked!" she protested, rushing to join him. "Someone might see you!"

He then straightened up, his chest bulging, and declared his hands in the air:

"I'm getting ready for my speech!"

The young woman then stopped in front of him, crossing her arms, smiling in a corner.

"Oh yes, I can see that. And who put in your head that doing it naked could help you?"

"Tuff."

"How surprising..."

She looked up to heaven, getting ready to climb on the stage to pick him up when he stopped her with a wave of his hand.

"Wait, I'm training for my dis-hic-course"

She was going to say something but seeing him like that made her laugh too much for her to stop him.

He then pointed to the back of the large room, and placed his other hand on his hip.

"People of Berk! Your chief has something important to... to announce to you, that's it... to announce to you. But before that, I wanted to thank you all, yes all... for this great birthday party! It's true that the winter provisions weren't already very large to begin with, but there... well there... it's going to be complicated... that's what I wanted to talk to you about... the dragons are more numerous but that doesn't mean they're doing their job! We have to send them to work! Do you agree, yes?" he stopped, looking confused, and turned to Astrid.

"So how was it?"

Astrid pinched her lips.

"It wasn't good, was it?"

"Hiccup..."

"I will never be like him..."

His voice broke, he dropped on the table before adding, "Told you so, son!" by imitating his father's voice.

He plunged his head into his arms as if he didn't want to be read. However, Astrid heard what seemed to be a sniffling.

She realized at that moment that alcohol brought out much more in him than she would have liked to know. She stepped on the platform and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, with a sad look.

"I miss him Astrid..."

"I know, Hiccup, I know... I miss him too."

She detached the fur she was wearing and came to stand behind him and put it on his back. She then surrounded him with her arms, holding him tightly against her before sighing:

"But we don't expect you to become your father."

A sobbing escaped the young boy and he began to cry. Astrid supported his jolts as best as she could, but she knew Hiccup needed to release his emotions. Since he was chief, he had always looked good in front of the village, but with her, it was harder to contain himself. Even in front of his mother, he didn't dare cry. Astrid had always been there for him, and even right now, she was still there.

Stoick's death was an ordeal for which his son had not been prepared, making him a premature leader, whereas his father's wish was precisely to gradually train him for his future role so that the transition could take place naturally. It was brutal. All his responsibilities were quickly put on his shoulders, starting with the reconstruction of Berk after it had been covered with ice. He was also very quickly asked about his future projects, how he wanted to run the village, how he would set the rhythm of the Berkians' life, that kind of thing. He summed up his thought very simply: to continue the path he had begun with his father and make peaceful coexistence between dragons and vikings a priority. His mother had followed him in this direction and had spent the past year training them to rescue dragons. She accompanied them on each of their raids, but soon she would leave them to fend for themselves. The danger of these stealth missions on hunters' ships was real. That's why Hiccup had started making dragon scale flight suits for the whole gang.

So yes, the chief was tired. He hadn't had a moment to breathe a word of truth. With so much to do, he didn't have time to get bored. He did not dislike it, quite the contrary, but nevertheless, he did not stop comparing himself to his father, who was such a brilliant, brave and devoted leader... Hiccup seriously doubted his abilities as a leader and all he wanted was for things not to change. For Toothless and himself to continue flying across the horizon, to explore the undiscovered islands beyond the archipelago, and to never stop.

However, Astrid knew that bringing back all the dragons they were rescuing to Berk would quickly cause them some problems. But she wanted Hiccup to realize it alone. For now, it was time to take him home.

"Come on, chief. Let's get going."

"Wait... A-Astrid, where is Toothless?"

The blond-haired girl sketched a smile.

"Don't worry, he's probably waiting for you quietly at the foot of your bed."

She helped the young boy to get up, took him under her arm and helped him walk. She was careful to make sure that Hiccup did not lose the fur he had on him, on the road to his hut. When he arrived home, Astrid helped him up the stairs and dressed him in a tunic before putting him to bed.

"Thank you," he said in a whisper.

Sitting on the edge of her bed, the young woman kissed him on the temple. She was about to leave when this one took her hand.

"Astrid..."

"Yes?"

With his eyes half-opened, he whispered:

"Stay..."

Astrid's face was tightened. They had never slept together before. At least not in this way. She had to say no, but seeing him so vulnerable and begging, made her doubt.

"Please," he whispered as he came to caress his cheek.

This last gesture made up her decision. She took off her skirt and boots, and took her place next to him, under the blankets. Hiccup surrounded her with his arms and held her tightly against him, as if she was the last thing he could attach himself to. With his forehead glued to her own, she stroked his hair like a mother would to reassure her child. Their eyelids suddenly became heavier. Huddled together in the privacy of Hiccup's cot, they fell asleep.

Astrid was his strength. And thanks to her, tomorrow would be a new day.


End file.
